Recommended Instructions (Music for a Better World)

Fill in the Blank Worksheets

Click song titles on the right for the corresponding worksheet. More specific
instructions are below. 

Music for a Better World Lesson Plans (Artists for Equality/Tha Truth)
www.ThaTruthMusic.Com  
ThaTruthMusic@Yahoo.Com

Recommended Instructions

1) Go to www.ThaTruthMusic.Com
2) Click on the image in the middle of the screen (update your flash if needed)
3) Click on the "Lyrics" tab close to the top of the screen on the left
4) Click on the Music for a Better World album link
5) Click on the name of the song and the lyrics will appear
6) Play the song 3 times with the lyrics projected on a screen while kids complete
    the worksheets
7) Prizes (like used stuffed animals or fair trade chocolate) are great motivators!
8) Prizes can go to the top 3 winners or more (who complete the most blanks
    correctly) with up to 10 extra credit points for the open ended ones
9) After grading the papers, the best open ended answers can be read to the class
10) Correct answers can be reviewed as a group and further discussion if needed
      can take place
11) Remind kids occasionally that things aren't all bad and we can make things better
12) Email any stories, questions, or feedback to the above email if you'd like!
      It's great to hear when people use the lesson plans and how it went!

Tha People's Music Worksheet

History and Hip Hop Fill In the Blank - Tha People's Music (The Real History)
ThaTruthMusic@Yahoo.Com

Recommended Instructions
1. Go to www.ThaTruthMusic.Com
2. Click on the image in the center of the screen (update your flash if necessary)
3. Click on the lyrics tab close to the top left of the screen
4. Click on Tha People's Music album link
5. Click on the name of the song "The Real History" and the lyrics will appear
6. Play the song 3 times with the lyrics projected on a screen while kids complete
    the worksheets
7. Prizes (like old used stuffed animals and fair trade chocolate) are great motivators!
8. Prizes (can go to top 3 winners or more) for who gets the most correct answers
9. Email any stories, questions, or feedback to the email address above if you'd like!

FILL IN THE BLANK

HISTORY & HIP HOP WORKSHEET

1. Columbus came here to get the _____________ and claim the land as his property
to split it with the rich back in Europe.
2. Jefferson and Washington they wrote the constitution. They owned hundreds
of ______________ but they gave this conclusion.
3. In the Declaration of Independence, half of society was never even mentioned.
Back in the day, _______________ were taught to obey.
4. While the Natives still sought to take a stand, the new American government
________________ their homes to ____________ their land.
5. The government wanted more land and expanded it. They moved west but the
move caused 70,000 Native ________________.
6. The government _______________ every treaty that they made with the Natives
and today they still discriminate against ______________________.
7. After taking Native land the government wanted more. They took _____________
and _____________ in the Mexican war.
8. Plus Arizona and more Mexican land and planned steadily to take _____________
and _____________ they called it Manifest Destiny.
9. Little to no freedom came from the slave's emancipation, 'cause ______________
white men still were owners of every ______________________.
10. Plus the proclamation didn't stop ____________________ didn't stop the
creation of a _______________ education.
11. People organized in _________ as they strived for better ways fighting to end
more than 10 hour days (of work).
12. It's a fact they scripted the Conscription Act, so the rich didn't have to ________
in the wars, only the poor.
13. Today's the same situation with the ________ who rule this nation. The rich's
businesses evolved today they're called _________________.


www.ThaTruthMusic.Com
ThaTruthMusic@Yahoo.Com

Change The Future Worksheet

Change The Future Worksheet                   Name: ___________________________


1. Before the 1960's gays were
    A. not existing because everyone was straight
    B. sent into electric shock therapy in mental institutions
    C. more free to be who they were then they are now

2. Before the 1970's being gay was classified as a mental illness
    Circle One:            True            False

3. In the Middle East some countries today have a penalty of death for being gay
    Circle One:            True            False

4. Why are humans still acting like cave men?
    A. we're still impressed by shiny rocks and even kill each other over them
    B. we're still drawing pictures on cave walls, which is called hieroglyphics
    C. we still dress like cavemen and live in caves

5. Why does this artist say we're not using our brains?
    A. because we had our brains taken by zombies from Zimbabwe
    B. because too many people now have experienced brain damage at some point
    C. because we've got money to bomb countries but the poor get left hungry

6. The most important thing you can do is
    A. make a lot of money
    B. become famous enough that almost everyone knows who you are
    C. change the world that you know to make it a better place

7. We don't get to control to who we are born or where we are born
    Circle One:            True            False

8. In Cuba kids get
    A. expensive medical bills
    B. free college educations
    C. free tickets to NBA basketball games

9. What are some things you think we need to change to make this world better?











10. What do you think the point of this song is? (Change the Future HOW?)

Do You Belive in Facts?

Do You Believe in Facts Worksheet              Name: _________________________


1. The government put Bradley Manning in prison because he told the truth about
    seeing US troops killing innocent civilians in Afghanistan for no reason
    Circle One:            True            False

2. In some cities 70% of kids drop out of high school
    Circle One:            True            False

3. In the U.S. healthcare is expensive but in Canada and many other countries
    A. they don't care about healthcare because no one ever gets sick or hurt
    B. healthcare is free
    C. healthcare is 50 to 100 times more expensive than it is in the U.S.

4. Richard Verone robbed a bank because
    A. he needed healthcare he couldn't afford
    B. he was mad at the bank manager who was dating his ex-wife
    C. he wanted a lot of cash because he liked to whip expensive cars around

5. The U.S. does NOT have a lot of weapons in the state of Montana
    Circle One:            True            False

6. Eminent domain means the government can throw you out of your home
    if they want at any time
    Circle One:            True            False

7. Every 36 hours  ________ military vets commit suicide

8. The chances of dying from terrorism are
    A. fairly small, about 15%
    B. small, about 5%
    C. so far below 1% there's no measurement small enough to find this answer

9. The number one cause of death in the U.S. for people is
    A. terrorism
    B. violent criminals and severe weather are tied
    C. heart disease from unhealthy food

10. What do you think the point of this song is?

Human Rights Worksheet

Human Rights Worksheet                            Name: __________________________


1. Why does this artist say there should be no more prisons?
    A. he doesn't want to go back to prison
    B. prisons often don't rehabilitate or make people better and in fact often
         make people worse
    C. prisons are dangerous because inmates can escape easily and in fact
         they often do

2. If the U.S.A had "Medicare for all" (free medical care for all) that would mean
    A. there would be even more expensive hospitals, healthcare, and doctors
    B. no more people would have to die because they couldn't afford medical care
    C. only tall people would get cheaper medical care

3. Right now U.S. healthcare being so expensive leads to millions not being able to
    afford to get medical treatment.
    Circle One:            True            False

4. When should all torturing of people (that the U.S. government does) be ended?
    A. In a few years when the world is safer
    B. Within approximately ten years
    C. with no hesitation, as in right now

5. The best thing you can have in this world is
    A. a hot car, SUV, or motorcycle
    B. compassion, the ability to truly care about other people
    C. money and fame

6. It's not all about you. It's all about
    A. you and lots of money
    B. you and your family and friends
    C. you and me and every person being ok

7. How could everyone win in the game of life?
    A. cooperation, sharing, and helping each other
    B. by rich people getting richer
    C. by everyone playing sports and cheating in games

8. Human rights are as important as some things but not that important
    Circle One:            True            False

9. Why don't we have jobs, food, and homes for all?
    A. many people would rather starve than work because starving is fun
    B. people decide before they are born to be born into poor families in
        poor neighborhoods
    C. the government feels it's better to spend millions on building weapons
         than helping people

10. What do you think the point of this song is?

Critical Thinking Worksheet

Critical Thinking Worksheet                    Name: _____________________________


1. They say poor people are lazy but rich people
    A. always work the hardest
    B. are usually more caring and usually love to share what they have
    C. pay others to clean up their mess like they're babies and are often on vacation

2. There was a time when those drinking alcohol
    A. only held drinks in their left hand
    B. got thrown in prison and it was called prohibition
    C. were fined $10 for each night they drank after 10pm

3. Paying for poor people's heat in the winter is an example of
   A. capitalism
   B. heterosexism
   C. socialism

4. Because they're free, the fire dept. and police dept. are 2 examples of socialism
    Circle One:            True            False

5. _______________________ is one of the reasons that we still have poverty

6. The U.S. does NOT use torture because many countries disapprove
    Circle One:            True            False

7. The U.S. tortured Canadian Maher Arar because
    A. He admitted to stealing
    B. they found out he hurt people and he said he would do it again
    C. they thought he hurt people but they found out he did nothing wrong

8. How many people die from starvation each day worldwide? _______________

9. $ _______ billion dollars is for the military budget.

10. $ ______ billion dollars could end all the world's hunger

11. ________ was the holocaust's lesson
     A. Jewish people are more important than Native Americans and should be
          talked about more
     B. not to follow all the government's directions, because the German government
         said to kill Jewish people
     C. there was no lesson to the holocaust

12. What do you think the point of this song is?

One Human Family Worksheet

One Human Family Worksheet            Name:_______________________________


1. What is the point of the squirrel story?
    A. that squirrels are racist and they need to get their act together
    B. to point out that these animals are fun to look at because they're so fast
    C. to show that humans only look different because of different environments, but
         are the same race
    D. that squirrels from the south are different colors than ones from the north, and
         have thicker fur

2. Why were races created by the rulers of the past?
    A. it doesn't matter because the rulers always make the right decision and we
         shouldn't question it
    B. to keep people divided and separate instead of uniting and fighting for fairness
         against unfair rulers
    C. the rulers of the past figured out people have different color blood and were
         different races
    D. the rulers back then were confused because every person looked the same

3. Everyone in the human race can trace their roots back to the first people from
    A. South America
    B. North America
    C. Central America
    D. Africa

4. Hip hop music was started by kids in New York who couldn't afford instruments
    Circle One:            True             False

5. List at least two of the 5 elements of hip hop culture (extra credit for more than 2)



6. Where do all people come from? ______________________________

7. Where was the body of the first man found? ______________________

8. What really matters is
    A. how much money you make
    B. what you do for a living
    C. how you look
    D. how you treat people

9. Why do you think this artist called the song "One Human Family?"








10. What do you think the point of this song is?

Textbook Lies Worksheet

Textbook Lies Worksheet                             Name: _________________________


1. They don't teach us that George Washington
    A. was a rapper even though rap wasn't invented yet, so they called him "G the Poet"
    B. owned slaves
    C. could dunk a basketball even though basketball wasn't invented yet

2. What country has the most weapons and is considered a bully to the world?


3. Other countries have military bases and weapons in the United States
    Circle One:            True            False

4. The United States has military bases and weapons in many other countries
    Circle One:            True            False

5. The richest country, The United States,
    A. is never violent to other countries
    B. never does anything wrong
    C. doesn't feed the poor

6. In the year 1493, Christopher Columbus
    A. started cutting hair for a living
    B. killed Native Americans and stole their land
    C. opened a used car dealership in the neighborhood he was born in

7. Columbus was able to take this land from the Natives because
    A. he and his crew were really tall and had big muscles
    B. he bought it from them with coins and abundant food crops
    C. he had better weapons

8. How did Columbus treat the Native Americans?
    A. he threw tea parties for them on the weekend
    B. he learned their language and respected their different ways of life
    C. he told them become Christian or he'd kill them or make them slaves

9. To make things better the United States government could
    A. use the money for war and weapons to end starvation
    B. make kids say the pledge of allegiance more in school
    C. keep taking over lands like Columbus did

10. What do you think is the point of this song?

Worker's Rights Worksheet

Worker's Rights Worksheet                       Name: ___________________________


1. Some kids at the end of the day are paid
    A. 62 dollars
    B. 123 dollars
    C. 60 cents

2. Our phones and technology are made by
    A. elves in a workshop at the north pole
    B. people working in slavery like conditions in sweatshops
    C. fairly paid workers in the United States

3. Sweatshops are where workers are hardly getting _______________________

4. Sweatshops are where workers are getting treated like they're ________________

5. Buying things we don't need
    A. kills trees and increases pollution
    B. solves all our problems
    C. can make you taller if you buy the right products

6. Most of our clothes come from
    A. sweatshops overseas
    B. factories in the USA
    C. factories in Canada

7. The big bosses getting rich usually did that by
    A. paying their workers fairly
    B. not paying their workers fairly
    C. asking a powerful magician to cast them a spell for riches

8. Two ways to oppose and close sweatshops are
    A. going to a sweatshop and putting a curse on it
    B. to shop only in Europe or Mexico
    C. looking up union made clothes and supporting those

9. In sweatshops workers do NOT ever work long and crazy hours 
    Circle One            True            False

10. What do you think is the point of this song?

Let's All Blame the Victim Worksheet

Let's All Blame the Victim                          Name: ___________________________


1. How can we stop terrorism and wars?
    A. by casting a magic spell for peace
    B. by continuing to build more and more weapons and invading other countries
    C. by not invading countries and using the U.S.'s riches to feed the world's poor

2. Some children are born racist
    Circle One:            True            False

3. Women are equal to men
    Circle One:            True            False

4. _______________ is the answer we need created.

5. Instead of ensuring everyone has a job to make a living, they keep building
    A. more libraries
    B. more hospitals
    C. more prisons

6. People getting what they ________________ is the solution

7. Bad things happen to good people
    Circle One:            True           False

8. We're going to have major problems till real ______________ is arisen.

9. Do you think we should blame the victim for their problems or try to help them?
    Why or Why not?

10. What do you think is the point of this song?

What Democracy Sounds Like

 What Democracy Sounds Like Worksheet       Name: ______________________


1. Why can the government be considered gangsters?
    A. they call themselves gangsters and have gangster nicknames
    B. they love money and guns and go to war to control things
    C. they have all been arrested and have spent time in jail

2. We are free to travel to every country including Cuba
    Circle One:            True            False

3. What is an obstacle that is keeping us from having a better world?
    A. absolute apathy because not one single person cares
    B. greed
    C. the internet

4. You can't spell "revolution" without ________

5. Politicians tend to only listen to who gives them
   A. cupcakes and other deserts
   B. long, serious, and stern stares and lectures
   C. money

6. We're told NOT to question
    A. pollution
    B. students
    C.doughnut store employees 

7. The first men that said that we have freedom in the United States
    A. formed a rock band
    B. owned slaves
    C. always ate carrots together on Sundays

8. In the U.S. college costs $50,000 to $100,000 but in Cuba college is free
    Circle One:            True            False

9. In the U.S. healthcare is extremely expensive but in Cuba healthcare is
    A. not available to anyone
    B. just as expensive
    C. free

10. What do you think is the point of this song?

Solutions Fill In The Blank Worksheet

Solutions Worksheet                                  Name: ___________________________

1. Cars pollute our air but driving SUVs is like driving _____ cars at once everywhere.

2. We can stop greedy businesses by
    A. buying stuff we see in commericals
    B. supporting union made and sweatshop free products
    C. supporting greedy businesses so they have more money

3. Why is it good to check the tags inside of clothing to see if they're "Made in the
    U.S."?
    A. because clothes made in other countries are likely made by workers who are
         not treated fairly
    B. because clothes not made in the U.S. might smell funny
    C. because clothes from other countries might be lost or stolen

4. How can we find clothes that are made in the U.S.?
    A. by buying any clothes sold in the U.S.
    B. by buying any clothes considered the most popular brands
    C. by searching for "union made" and "sweatshop free" clothing

5. What are some things we can do to avoid the pollution that SUVS and cars make?
    A. buy premium gas and make sure the engine doesn't overheat
    B. by walking, taking the bus or train, riding a bike, or hybrid or electric car
    C. using natural gas in our cars and SUVs

6. What is just as important as recycling?
    A. having a really cool phone with lots of features and sounds
    B. making lots of money
    C. reusing what we have and not buying stuff we don't need

7. Bottled water sold in stores is actually tap water from the sink half the time
    Circle One:            True             False

8. Making plastic bottles for water...
    A. isn't done that much so it's ok
    B. causes pollution and hurts the planet in many different ways
    C. is better for dogs because they hate to drink tap water out of the sink

9. What is cheap and good for the environment to clean your home with?
    A. soda and orange juice
    B. alcohol and bleach
    C. vinegar and baking soda

10. What do you think is the point of this song?